#zika virus

Special diet, weight gain, general pains, parental anxiety….when pregnant, there is no end to what we worry about. And recent weeks have given pregnant moms yet another thing to worry about: the Zika virus, which has caused thousands of new babies in Brazil to be born with microcephaly (small heads and brain damage).

TheWorld Health Organization (WHO) has declared the Zika Virus an “international public health emergency” and the CDC has warned pregnant Americans from travelling abroad to Zika infested areas. Is Zika something you should be worried about? Let’s investigate.

The Zika Facts

Simply put, the Zika virus is a mosquito-transmitted infection. 80% of the people who contract the virus experience no symptoms. The other 20% may encounter fever, rash, joint pain and red eyes. Zika has existed in Africa and Asia for decades, and it surfaced in the Western Hemisphere last May with an outbreak in Brazil.

Few of us Western Hemisphere-dwellers have built up immune defenses against Zika, so the virus spread rapidly after its emergence in Brazil. Millions in the tropical regions of the Americas may now have been infected. Most alarmingly, authorities in Brazil are currently investigating nearly 4,000+ cases of microcephaly (compare to the 150 cases of microcephaly they typically have annually). What’s more, we don’t have a cure or vaccination for the Zika virus, and a possible treatment is years away.

The Zika Scare

Zika sounds scary on paper, and the media makes it look really really scary. But how worried are people actually? We asked our Glow Community to weigh in with their thoughts about Zika, and here’s what we learned from the 7,000+ women who responded: 5% of women said they were terrified of the Zika virus, over half of women claimed they were not worried about Zika, and an astonishing 12% of women had never heard of the virus!

And Glow’s perspective? On a scale of top 100 things to worry about while pregnant, we’d put the Zika virus no higher than mid 60s for now. Especially if you live far away from the infected regions. Here’s why.

Zika Exaggerated

We have a hunch that the Zika virus is being blown out of proportion. First, no causal link between Zika virus and microcephaly in babies has been conclusively proven. Only 17 of the roughly 400 microcephaly cases confirmed by Brazilian health officials so far have conclusively tested positive for Zika infection, according to the latest data from the World Health Organization.  

Furthermore, microcephaly can emerge due to genetic and environmental factors, not just from Zika alone. Some babies have microcephaly because of changes in their genes. Microcephaly can also be caused by exposures to certain infections (rubella, toxoplasmosis, or cytomegalovirus), lack of nutrition, and substances like alcohol, drugs, or toxic chemicals during pregnancy. In fact, 25,000 cases of microcephaly are already being diagnosed in the United States every year. Although, scientists note that not all of these cases will be as severe as the cases currently being investigated in Brazil.

What’s more, we believe the reported numbers behind the Zika virus could be somewhat exaggerated. Remember those 4,000 cases raising concern in Brazil? After experts scrutinized 732 of these cases they found that more than half either weren’t microcephaly, or weren’t at all related to Zika. Whew!

Better Safe Than Sorry

Even if you are at low risk, there are steps you can take to decrease your odds of contracting Zika. If you are traveling to or live in countries with mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus, avoid mosquito bites as much as possible. This includes minimizing skin exposure, staying in cooler, closed areas that are mosquito-free, sleeping under bed nets if your sleeping quarters may have mosquitoes, and, of course, using proper insect repellent. Caution each day keeps the Zika away!

Back in March, we assured you that you didn’t need to panic about the Zika virus. While we acknowledged that the virus was a real condition that was causing birth defects for a growing number of babies in Brazil, it was nothing to worry about for the average American.

Unfortunately, the threat of Zika has grown in the past six months, and the press freak-out has been intense. Reporters and bloggers have warned us to avoid honeymoonsandbabymoons anywhere near Zika-infected areas. Some athletes even chose to skip the Rio Olympics due to risk of Zika exposure.

Wondering if it’s time to freak out, right? We are, too. To start, here’s what’s changed about Zika since March–and what you can do to protect yourself whether you’re pregnant, trying to get pregnant, or just intent on staying healthy.

Something you definitely don’t need to panic about: mosquitoes the size of kittens

In March, Zika was a serious threat in Brazil only. Since then, Zika has also penetrated the Caribbean and all of Central and South America; the CDC has updated their travel warnings accordingly. Until July, the only instances of Zika in the continental U.S. were contracted when traveling in infected areas. Then Zika-infected mosquitoes turned up in Miami. Forty-nine people have been infected in the Miami area since.

What’s more, mosquitoes are no longer the only beings to blame for Zika’s geographical movement; recently we’ve seen a few cases of American women contracting Zika from sexual contact with infected men. In addition, it turns out that Zika doesn’t just put your baby at risk. Research published just last week shows that those infected with Zika have a higher risk of developing Guillain-Barré Syndrome—a rare condition that causes the immune system to attack nerves and leads to progressive paralysis.

In spite of how scary this sounds and how intimidating the media frenzy is, it’s not worth panicking just yet. Widespread spraying of the affected areas is already happening in Miami, so mosquitoes carrying Zika are unlikely to rapidly move to other parts of Florida (fun fact: Zika-transmitting mosquitoes typically travel less than 400 meters in their entire lives!). Experts say that local mosquitoes are only likely to spread Zika where they’ve previously spread other illnesses, like dengue fever. That narrows the field to small portions of southern Florida and the southern tip of Texas.

Of course, Zika will continue evolving, as viruses do, and the virus will will most likely begin to improve its person-to-person (instead of mosquito-to-person) transmission, so we’ll have to keep an eye on that. What’s more, scientists are working quickly to develop a vaccine for Zika— in fact, it’s already being tested in humans.

So, unless you travel frequently to Latin America or live in Miami, it’s unlikely that Zika will affect your life very much. Despite your location, it’s worth it to take a few precautions. Here’s how you can stay safe, whether you’re trying to conceive and planning travel in Latin America or just working to have the healthiest pregnancy possible:

• Wear insect repellent, especially the kind that contains DEET. Especially important in tropical areas, but useful everywhere. Zika isn’t the only disease mosquitoes carry, and bug bites are annoying, even if they’re not transmitting anything but a nagging itch.
• Use condomswhen having sex with a new partner. This is a good practice in general, but especially when you’re canoodling with someone who’s been traveling (most especially if their travels have brought them to Florida or Latin America!)  If you’re pregnant or trying to make a baby, make sure your partner also limits travel to high-risk areas and wears insect repellent if/when he or she is on the road.
• Talk to your doctor about further precautions to take or if you have any questions. She’ll know the specifics of your situation and will be able to advise you accurately.

Stay safe out there, friends!